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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Is fantasy focus hurting football?
Ron Barassi was in an angry state of mind when he confronted Gerard Healy when they were both at the Melbourne Football Club in the early 80s.
At the end of the exchange during a break in the game at the SCG, Barassi told Healy to "give me possessions and I'll shut up".
Possessions, or more particularly statistics, now rule AFL football. Statistics have spawned an industry.
Collecting, collating and categorising each kick, mark, handball, tackle, tap out, entry to forward 50, rebound from defensive 50. It goes on.
The nuances of these statistics are often lost on the general public but not those absorbed in the Dream Team/Supercoach phenomenon.
People in the past were content to enter tipping contests but for the real football nerd now the quest is to win Dream Team/Supercoach games.
For the uninitiated, Dream Team and Supercoach are basically the same statistically based competitions. Participants select players to make up a squad.
Each player is priced according to the number of points he averages per game. The points are based on the number of kicks, marks, handballs, free kicks for and against, hitouts, goals and behinds.
There is a a salary cap and the job of the participant is to select 22 players each week to take on another team. In each round, the participant with the most points wins the match-up.
Coaches repeatedly point out that the worth of a player in a particular game can't be judged on his statistics. This is most definitely not the case in the land of Dream Team or Supercoach. Rather, it is the only worth of a player.
The phenomenon has hit rugby league and rugby union as well as soccer and other sports but the plethora of statistical information in the AFL makes it a superior offering to the thousands addicted to closely watching the fantasy unfold.
Apparently it's fun. Supposedly it keeps participants interested in games even if there is a blowout on the scoreboard - the actual scoreboard; you know, the one that actually shows who wins or loses.
On the other hand, the long term effect of Dream Team and Supercoach could also reduce the public's interest in following a club.
In the fanatasy world, the only thing that matters is the individual and how many points they can accrue for your fantasy team. Hence, the club, the result, the interest in the game itself could die.
Perhaps that is a little dramatic. But then again, there are plenty of people who review the weekend's AFL games according to how Hogan's Heroes or Macca's Madmen or Hellboys performed rather than whether Carlton, Collingwood or West Coast won or lost.
There are even media outlets who publish or read out the fantasy points accrued by players. There are advice columns in newspapers on how to pick the best 22.
AFL is evolving. Fantasy leagues are growing. Whether they are good for one another in the long term will make for an interesting study.
Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, australian-football-league, rugby-league, super-rugby, australia First posted May 15, 2012 13:58:32Saturday, January 21, 2012
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Football legends farewelled in Sydney funerals
The service for Mossop, known to many as the Moose, was held at St Matthews Anglican Church in Manly.
Mossop died in a Sydney hospital a week ago after long suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
He was 83.
The combative forward played eight tests for the Wallabies while a member of the Manly rugby union club between 1948 and 1951.
He then switched to rugby league, playing for the Manly Sea Eagles and earning nine caps with the Kangaroos before his retirement in 1963.
Mossop followed his playing days with a long and successful career as a commentator, working for Channels 7 and 10 from the 1970s through to 1990.
His former commentating partner Ferris Ashton says Mossop was one of the best.
"I think he brought sports broadcasting, particularly rugby league, right up to the front. I think he was hard to beat. He was a terrific bloke," Mr Ashton said.
Tributes are also being paid to Mossop's former Wallabies team mate, David Brockhoff.
Brockhoff, also 83, died last weekend.
The pair helped the Wallabies to victory in the 1949 Bledisloe Cup, the first time Australia had won on New Zealand soil.
Brockhoff went on to also coach the Wallabies during the 1970s.
A funeral service will be held at the University of Sydney later this afternoon.
Tags: sport, rugby-league, rugby-union, australia, nsw, manly-2095, the-university-of-sydney-2006 First posted June 24, 2011 14:31:00Friday, May 6, 2011
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
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How To Play Football
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1: The Story Behind the Longest Winning Streak in Football History
EXCLUSIVELY OFFERED BY GOINGDIGITALFILMS---Brand New DVDs--LIMITED FIRST PRODUCTION RUN--ORDER Yours Today! DVD FEATURES: Additional 45min Edited Version (No Explicit Language), Filmmakers Commentary Track, Deleted Scenes, Extended Football Games, 2 Additional Speeches by Head Coach Bob Ladouceur, 2 Teaser Trailers, Photo Gallery, Production Notes and More... You've heard the staggering statistics.... 151 consecutive wins....0 losses in the span of a decade... A winning percentage over 90% since 1979... You'd think it was a high school football factory, you'll find it's something much more... 1 is a rare behind-the-scenes chronicle of the most successful high school football team ever and follows the De La Salle Spartans through a season on a quest not to win another championship or break another national record, but on a journey to become a cohesive team bound by love. Recommended for anyone interested in the factors behind phenomenal team success, high school, football, greatest sports stories or teen development. It's not about X's and O's. It's about having faith in something larger than yourself. Feature length version contains some explicit language. Edited version contains no explicit language.Price:
Football Training Secrets
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Iowa Hawkeyes - 2003 Football Instant Replay
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IOWA HAWKEYES:2004 FOOTBALL INSTANT - DVD Movie